This invention relates generally to control systems and more particularly to a method and system for communicating data between master controllers in control area networks.
Through the use of a control system, various equipment or appliances in an environment, such as a home or business, can be computer-controlled to form an automated environment. The controlled equipment may include heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, lighting systems, audio-visual systems, telecommunications systems, security systems, surveillance systems, and fire protection systems, for example. The equipment may be coupled to equipment controlling devices that are linked to a computer-based master controller through the use of a control area network. One or more user interface devices, such as a touch panel, may also be linked to the control area network to accept user input and display current system status.
Traditional control systems typically have no or limited support for interconnecting multiple master controllers and supporting communications between multiple master controllers. The limited support traditionally available limited the ability of a user to distribute and partition control systems and associated devices across logical and geographic boundaries.
From the foregoing, it may be appreciated that a need has arisen for a method and apparatus for effecting master controller communication between control area networks and control area networks systems.
According to the present invention, a method and system are provided to address this need, and involves a communications network, a first master controller and a second master controller, the first and second master controllers are coupled to the communications network. The method and system further involve a plurality of devices, a first set of the devices are coupled to the first master controller and a second set of the devices are coupled to the second master controller via the communications network, and each device has at least one port. In addition, the method and system further involve a first device manager associated with the first master controller and a second device manager associated with the second master controller. The first device manager maintaining first device status data associated with the first set of the devices and the second device manager maintaining second device status data associated with the second set of the devices. Also, the method and system involve a first connection manager associated with the first master controller and a second connection manager associated with the second master controller. The first connection manager is operable to accept data from the first set of devices and route the data to the second master controller, and the second connection manager is operable to accept the data from the first master controller and send the data to the second set of the devices.